By Brian Long
Quality captures from salt and freshwater were reported over the past week.
Whiting numbers were rising, with Lonsdale Bight fishing well on fresh squid and pippies. This area also accounted for some of the best squid captures, particularly on natural-coloured jigs.
Shaun Jeffries fished close to Coles Beacon on Saturday for a bag limit of quality whiting. He enjoyed a similar same result the following day, boating 20 whiting mostly over 36cm.
Geoff Holt also caught his bag limit of whiting while fishing the entrance to Swan Bay while fishing the flood tide with pippies.
Swan Bay’s entrance also produced quality flathead, with Ballarat’s Noel Henry catching a pair of 2kg-plus fish on Monday.
Garfish were present inside Swan Bay, with Paul Stevens using a berley trail from the jetty to catch 12 thumpers in an hour.
Grant Teasdale drifted the Hermsley spoil grounds to catch small snapper to 38cm on soft plastics lures. Three pike over 1m added some extra excitement.
Grant fished the spoil grounds a day later to catch a snapper of 3.8kg on 6lb braid.
Guy Welsh also caught snapper on soft plastics while fishing close in at Bird Rock. He caught and released an impressive tally but kept one fish of 3.6kg, which his neighbours enjoyed.
Terry Shap fished the edge of the channel near Wilson Spit among 20 other boats in the vicinity. Terry still managed two snapper over 5kg but lost another he estimated to be larger when his line caught on the anchor rope of a boat nearby.
Tyson Miller made the long run from Queenscliff to Fawkner Beacon, off Sandringham, after hearing about its big catches of snapper. Tyson spent longer travelling to the location than it took him to catch his bag limit of big snapper.
Garry Fitzgerland fishing land-based at Point Lillias last Saturday night with large squid heads. Rays were a constant problem until 11pm when snapper came on the bite for an hour, leaving Garry with a catch of three fish from 2.4kg to 4.7kg.
Squid were taken in many areas but the shallow grass beds off Hermsley were the most consistent. Small pink jigs worked well at first light.
Lismore’s Lake Tooliorook was inconsistent but Rod Rayner arrived late last week to note a large mudeye hatch had taken place, coaxing many trout into extremely shallow water. Rod caught two magnificent fish on mudeye and a number in the shallows with his landing net.
Trevor Holmes also reported numbers of fish visible in the shallows the same day. He also caught fish but found that most sighted would not take his lures.
Ballarat’s Lake Wendouree remained one of the best freshwater options, with mudeye baits and fly catching fish. Expect this lake to only improve over the coming weeks.
Moorabool Reservoir was a great choice of destination last weekend for Xavier Pullen who cast small minnow-pattern lures from the southwest side of the lake to land four brown trout around 1.5kg weight. Xavier said a fly angler also caught four trout, all on a brown nymph.
West Barwon Reservoir remained lightly fished but good fish were still taken. Mudeye was the favoured bait but the best captures were enjoyed by anglers casting deep-diving lures around the submerged trees at the right hand end of the main wall.
The Barwon River continued running high and discoloured through Geelong but produced some excellent eel fishing. Anywhere from Buckley Falls all the way to Breakwater produced eels, with worms the bait to use.
This weekend should present many options as the fishing hots up, depending on the weather. Anyone looking to catch a snapper from the surf should head to Black Rock, fishing the last two hours before dark and using squid strips for bait.
Freshwater anglers should continue to pursue either Lakes Wendouree or Tooliorook with mudeye for bait or working shallow running-bibbed lures such as Laydown or Presso minnows.
Send reports and photos to info@raylongtackle.com.au or visit Brian at Ray Long’s Fishing World, 105 Shannon Ave. Manifold Heights.
